The Senator representing Borno Central in the National Assembly, Ahmed Zannah, on Wednesday raised the alarm that Boko Haram insurgents had started killing teenage and adult males in its inordinate drive to expand its caliphate in the North–East.

Zannah, who stated this in a telephone interview, also insisted that the insurgents had taken over Bama, a town less than 78 kilometres from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, contrary to the position of the state governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima.

Recounting how he lost two of his nephews to the Monday/Tuesday attacks on Bama, Zannah said, “As I am speaking to you, Bama has been captured and the insurgents are on the prowl for any male on sight. “Everyone is a target as long as you are a male but for now, women and children are being spared”. The senator challenged the military authorities and the Borno State Government to take the media to Bama on a fact-finding mission to ascertain his claims on Tuesday that Boko Haram had gained control of Bama. The lawmaker said, “Both the military and Borno State Government are lying to Nigerians. To prove that I am the one misinforming the public, they should take journalists to the town to cross-check the fact”.